1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for removing remaining toner from an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus and a method for removing remaining toner from an image forming apparatus, in which an electric power which is supplied to a supplying roller is interrupted by a controller for controlling a supply of the electric power for a time that forming an image is not performed, thereby removing the remaining toner from a developing roller.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an image forming apparatus to which an electrophotography developing technique is adapted, such as a copier and a printer, includes a pickup roller, an electrification roller, a photosensitive drum, a transferring roller, a developing roller, a supplying roller, a fixing device, and an exposure device.
The electrification roller which is electrified with an electrification voltage electrifies a photosensitive film formed on a peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum while rotating. Then, a light emitted from the exposure device makes an electrostatic latent image to be formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum. There is a difference of electric potential between the supplying roller to which a supplying voltage is applied and the developing roller to which a higher level voltage than the supplying voltage is applied. As a result, negative electric charges move from the supplying roller to the developing roller. The toner supplied to the developing roller covers the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum so as to form the realistic image. The transferring roller having the high voltage transfers the realistic image formed in a manner that the toner that covers the surface of the photosensitive drum is transferred to the recordable paper carried by guide rollers. The realistic image transferred to the recordable paper is fixed on the recordable paper under a high temperature and a high pressure by the fixing device. The printing is therefore completed.
The supplying voltage, the developing voltage, the transferring voltage, and the electrification voltage are respectively and continuously supplied to the supplying roller, the developing roller, the transferring roller, and the electrification roller unless the printing is ended.
However, if the printing is continuously performed as described above, the toner which is not supplied to the photosensitive drum remains on the developing roller. The remaining toner must be returned to the supplying roller or removed by a cleaning device. If the printing is continuously performed in a state that the remaining toner is not removed, a problem arises in that the quality of the printing is degraded.
In the case as described above, a user visually identifies the printing status on the recordable paper. When the user determines that the recordable paper is polluted, the user separates the image forming apparatus into a plurality of parts and removes the toner remaining on the developing roller. Accordingly, it is difficult for the user to separate the image forming apparatus into the plural parts and assemble them with each other.
Furthermore, since the user must identify the pollution of the recordable paper, the recordable paper is wasted as much as the recordable paper is polluted.